In a Heart Beat
by Zosi
Summary: The consequences of laziness from a source he deemed his best friend will send Hayner's world into ruins. And there are so few people who would be willing to help him stand tall once again, but have they abandoned him too?
1. In a Heart Beat

**Alright here's the deal. I'm new here and this is my first fanfiction in 6-7 years. Forgive me for the sentence structure and grammar mistakes(I'm very Very rusty). I may have also made the characters too OOC and for that I apologize. This will be a Seiner story,...eventually. **

_'blah' _**- thought**

"blah blah" - **speech**

**I own nothing and am not making any profit off of this, no matter how much I wish it. Enjoy the first chapter. :)**

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Tings and clanks echoed throughout the empty kitchen spilling into the living room. Quiet mumbling could be heard but only a few words could be made out.

"Stupid.....grumble mumble Why now of all days?.............................figures." Suddenly a clap of thunder shook the entire house making the only occupant in the kitchen jump clear up into the air and nearly drop his recently made tea and spill a few droplets on the tiled kitchen floor.

Startled and spooked the figure quickly went into the living room while switching off the kitchen lights and settling down on the nice soft plushy couch. Dark maroon with velvet fabric and covered with lots of squishy pillows made sitting on this couch a dream.

Gently sipping at the hot tea in his favorite teacup, minding the scalding porcelain surface in favor of the handle, the young man of 18 reached across the oak coffee table for a book he was currently reading. Setting the teacup down and laying back in a comfortable position he began reading Through the Looking Glass. That is until...

Lightning lit up the entire living room accompanied by a glass shattering boom followed by complete an absolute darkness. It was seven thirty in the evening and the sun would normally set around seven forty five, but since today it was raining there was no sun to set. The cell phone sitting a few feet away from the panicking young man sang it's ring tone consisting of Shut me up by Mindless Self Indulgence. It was immediately snatch up with a barely whispered, "H-hello?"

"Hayner! Oh thank god! Are you alright?!"

"Yeah I'm fine Roxas... Just scared shitless from the power outage is all...." It was no big secret that Hayner was afraid of two things, heavy lightning storms and the dark, both of which were making themselves known.

"Oh man... Did you see that last strike! Holy fuck man it was awesome!" Roxas had somehow over the years picked up an interesting hobby. Lightning photography. Which would explain his obvious joy at what had taken place only two minutes ago.

"I'm sure it was..." Hayner grunted annoyed and still shaky from the very recent events.

Wind and rain as well as thunder could be heard on the other line which meant Roxas was out in that horrid monstrosity of a storm making it tough for Hayner to decipher what his best friend was saying.

"Hey--make sure you--safe. You'll be alright--pass in--no time. Okay buddy?"

It was hard to understand at first but a few seconds later Hayner knew what Roxas was saying. And before the line went dead due to the interference he quickly yelled back, "Will Do! Good luck Rox!" before complete static engulfed the conversation.

Now left completely alone in the dark with out any distractions, Hayner quickly decided on finding some source of light before he began another panic attack. As the dirty blonde got up from the couch and made his way to the kitchen pantry, lightning continuously flashed through the wide open space through the windows making him completely uncomfortable. Swiftly opening the pantry door he rummaged around behind the canned goods until he finally found what he was looking for.

'_Now where are those matches? I know mom put them in here somewhere where dad can't find them.'_

Anything that was flammable and created flame were hidden from Hayner's father because of his increasing cigar smoking habit. No one in the household liked the sweet cigar stench that always seeped into the chair his father always occupied. No matter how many times he and his mother would scrub the damned thing the stench would always stay, sometimes getting even stronger then before.

"Ah-Ha!" cried the dirty blonde out of triumph. The matches were stuffed behind a bag of flower and a can of spam. A perfect hiding place since his father never baked anything and hated spam. Closing the pantry door, Hayner made quick work of the match and had a small fluttering flame on a small candle and little peace to his frazzled mind. Walking back into the living room Hayner went to draw the curtains but quickly stopped to stare into the street at what he saw before him.

On the sidewalk on the side of his house he saw a baby kitten getting pelted by rain and chilly winds. Running out of his front door he made his way to the kitten and gently scooped up the poor animal and ran back inside. Hayner quickly went up stairs to his bathroom and grabbed towel after towel trying desperately to dry the poor little kitten off, not taking into account of his own sopping wet clothes. After ten minutes of continuous drying the dirty blonde in all his soaked glory went to the hallway closet and grabbed a heating pad followed by a small box. After re-entering the bathroom and finding the kitten where he left it, he put together a temporary place for the kitten to be during the heavy storm. Heating pad at the bottom of the box and a light fluffy towel above it, he placed the now dry kitten into the box and set the heating pad at medium.

Carefully picking up the box with the now sleeping kitten safely inside it, Hayner slowly walked to his room and set the box right by the side of his bed.

Another crash of thunder shook the house and reminded him of the candle he left down stairs. Running as fast as he could, the young blond jumped the last part of the stairs to see his candle on the the floor, the flame snuffed out. Breathing a sigh of relief, he left the candle where it was and went to draw the curtains again for the second time. For a brief moment however he felt something was horribly wrong but couldn't figure out what it was. The dirty blond sighed tiredly and drew the lavender silk curtains closed and headed back up stairs to his room. Laying down on his queen sized bed, the young man closed his eyes and hoped that the kitten would still be alive when he woke up in the morning.

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Roxas hung up his cell phone and threw it into his water proof satchel and went to steady his tripod. The rain and wind were becoming a little to much making it hard to see your own hand in front of your face. Roxas was positioned underneath the huge tent in the Twilight Park, built to keep the sun from baking the playground equipment to extreme temperatures to the point where children would get 3rd degree burns just from touching said equipment. After fighting with the bitchy tripod, Roxas decided to remove his camera and climb on top of the tent. Not only would there be more chances to snap a picture, but he could easily see all around him, and in case of emergency, just slice through the fabric and land on sand that would easily break the fall.

Carefully the spiky haired blond climbed, realizing why the park committee closed down this park temporarily. The very tent Roxas was climbing was very loose and could collapse at any moment.

Reaching the top, he settled himself on the very edge and positioned his camera in the area where the most lightning could be seen. A few minutes went by until he realized he was freezing to the point of being completely numb in his hands and feet, not to mention his face as well. Deciding he didn't want to carry his equipment down the way he climbed, the spiky youth tossed his bulky bag that could with stand anything in the direction of his car parked on the side of the street a few meters away from the tent.

A crash of shattered glass was heard, making Roxas wince and hope it wasn't his car he hit. Followed immediately after the shattering of glass a woman's scream could be heard. The next thing Roxas knew was that he was on his back and that in front of him was a car completely totaled and wrecked underneath the very tent he was on top of a few moments prior. Scrambling to his feet he ran to the car to see if the passenger was alright. Complete horror and disgust threatened to claw out of his throat any second. Roxas then backpedaled and vomited where he stood. After emptying his stomach of everything it could, he wiped his face with the back of his sleeve and sought out his car. After immediately finding it he turned his head back to the disaster he inadvertently caused and found his bag a few feet away. Running with all his might he made a grab for his bag and headed straight for his car, not forgetting his tripod either. Starting the engine with shaky cold hands he quickly drove away from Twilight park with only one thought going through his head. '_Hayner....._'

Behind him, the totaled car sat there being washed by the rain water. If one would glance through the crushed windshield they would see a man in his early forties, dark brown wavy hair and tan, dead on the steering wheel. If they glanced to the passenger seat they would no doubt find an unconscious woman in her mid thirties with short blond hair and pale skin lucky to even still breathe with her throat being crushed by a pole that held the tent up before they crashed into it. Nobody would be able to tell what caused the crash, just that the man was killed instantly and the woman was put through hell before she went unconscious.

Roxas wouldn't feel any guilt for what had just occurred a few moments ago, not for a few days at least. He definitely would not know how to face Hayner. I mean seriously, how could you go up to your best friend and say, "Hey buddy,....g-guess what? I accidentally killed your parents. Wanna go play some struggle?" Roxas sighed deeply at his poor attempt to lighten the situation. He knew Hayner was in for a world of hurt, and to learn that his best friend had caused said hurt would change both their lives forever. '_Well I-i got some good pictures at l-least......._'

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**If you have any thought's on this or would like to share your opinion, review. Hope you had a nice read. :)**


	2. Arrhythmia

**Again I owned nothing and I'm rusty rusty. The second Chapter. :) **

**' ' - thought**

**" " - speech**

**Forgive me for any grammar mistakes you may find. It's early in the morning. Enjoy your read!~**

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Scratching could be heard throughout Hayner's room as the young blond slept. "Mew..... Mew..... Mew! Mew!" The tiny kitten was scratching furiously at it's temporary prison, cold and hungry and desperate for attention.

One eye opened followed by a groan and shuffling of fabric. The exhausted dirty blond raised himself on his elbows and peered at his night table holding a clock that seemed to scream 1:30 AM in bright green letters. "Oh God... Why am I up at this hour?" he groggily asked himself as he shivered from the biting cold of his room. '_Wait a minute,...It's never cold in my room.'_ he thought. Looking down at his still soggy and now freezing clothes, Hayner suddenly remembered all the events that had happened a few hours ago. As if finally noticing the noise that first woke him, he immediately left his bed and went to the box located on the floor next to the piece of comfy furniture.

As expect the sight that greeted Hayner made him smile for joy as the kitten was full of life and desperate for food. A good sign that the kitten will get healthy again.

The shaking he was doing reminded the young blond to change into some actual dry clothes before he attempted to feed the young thing. Heading for the closet, he picked out a long sleeved navy blue wrap neck collared sweater and some dark gray pajama bottoms. Discarding his soaking camouflage vest and pants, followed by his black shirt and boxers on the floor somewhere, he swiftly pulled the two articles of warm clothing on before he headed downstairs to the kitchen.

His mother always had a thing about rescuing animals in need, so feeding a baby kitten wouldn't be that hard. Hayner grabbed what he needed from the kitchen, a cup full of KMR milk, a dropper and some paper towels before he again went upstairs to the company in his room. Ten minutes later a satisfied kitten fell asleep on a full stomach, warmed by the heating pad at the bottom of it's box.

As he entered the kitchen to put the kitten supplies away, a loud series of knocking was heard at the front door. Curiously he walked to the door wondering if his parents forgot where they put their spare keys again. The last time that happened Hayner wasn't home so they had to attempt jumping into the back yard and picking the lock on the glass door. They had one hell of a time when they had to explain to the cops why they were breaking into their house house. Those damn nosy neighbors.

As he opened the door, the sight of two tall police officers took him by surprise.

"Are you Hayner?" one of them asked, a morose tone to his voice.

"Yes officer. Why? Has something happened?" The panic in Hayner's voice was evident and made the two officers glance at each other, almost like who should have to be the one to break the news to the poor kid first.

"An accident happened. Young man you will need to come with us to officially identify the body."

Hayner froze, it felt like a bucket of ice water was dropped on him. "Wha-.....What happened? Who's body?!"

"Your parents were in a car accident earlier in the evening. Your mother is in the hospital getting treated for her injuries but your father was not that lucky. He died during the crash. We need you to come with us please. You are eighteen correct?"

All he could do was nod slightly. Of all the things to happen, why his parents? He was escorted into the officers police car and silently stared out the window watching the light sprinkling of rain indicating the storm had not yet fully finished. As the one of the two men started the car the other in the passenger seat leaned back slightly to say, "I'm sorry for your loss young man." The blond didn't bother to reply, to numb to process what was said as he continuously stared out his window at the moving scenery.

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A week had passed since Hayner received the news of what happened to his parents and identified the body(a situation he never wanted to go through again, let alone wish it on anyone else). Still not being allowed to enter his mother's hospital room to visit her, all he could do was clean the house and continue to care for the kitten he had recently taken to.

It was four o'clock in the afternoon, the sky a beautiful warm golden glow with hints of dark pink, maroon, and navy blue. But of course at any time of the day the sky of Twilight Town was always a breath taking sight.

The young blond felt a need to actually go somewhere else, find a different haunting ground to occupy for awhile. That and the kitten needed some fresh air since it was getting so antsy. Carefully locking the door while holding the kitten in his other hand, Hayner set off to wondering the quiet streets hardly ever full of traffic. Usually when he would walk alone he'd be frustrated and worked up and would usually visit the sandlot and struggle with competitors in the weekly struggle matches, or just go one on one with his rival, Seifer Almasy.

'_Maybe going to the Sandlot wouldn't be such a bad idea,... I know Ollete and Pence are usually always there. If not I'll just go to the Usual Spot and try to relax._' he thought, scratching behind the little kitten's left ear.

When he arrived at the Sandlot he was surprised that nobody was there. "This place is usually packed at this time. What gives?" the blond quietly mumbled to himself. He scanned the area and sure enough it looked devoid of life. He then spotted a bench and proceeded to sit down, allowing the kitten to jump from his lap and run around in circles at his feet, clawing at his camouflage shoes with a fierce passion.

He got up from his sitting place to sit down next to the kitten on the ground and carefully play with it.

A few minutes of this continued until Hayner absently thought one of his habitual thoughts that sparked a downturn of his good mood. '_I wonder what mom's making for dinner tonight?! How could I have forgotten so easily! I....... She's...... and Dad....'_ It's almost like he zoned out, not all really there but only just so that it could easily be described as an out of body moment.

"Hey Lamer! What the hell are you doing here?" echoed all around the Sandlot.

Irked at not receiving a reply, the voice got louder the closer it came to the person it was directed to.

"What the hell chickenwuss?! You want me to beat you to a bloody pulp that badly? Keep sitting there like a dumbass and I'll do just that!"

Slowly, as if realizing he was being spoken to, Hayner lifted his head in the direction where the voice was coming from. And as he stared into two piercing blue eyes the younger blond quickly snapped back into reality.

"Seifer!? When did you get here? I thought nobody was here?!" As he said this, Hayner quickly looked around for the kitten finding it no where near him, but instead making it's way towards Seifer only a few feet away.

Following Hayner's gaze, Seifer looked down at his feet to see a kitten that looked all to familiar clawing at the bottom of his jacket. And it finally clicked why the kitten did look familiar as Hayner quickly rushed and made a grab for the kitten before Seifer could even bend down to pick up the thing.

Narrowing his eyes into a glare at his rival Seifer quickly spat, "Where did you get that cat!"

"Why do you care! You're not getting it so just lay off!" the younger blond yelled, cradling the kitten in a protective hold.

"Hmph, well see about that lamer." Crossing his arms, Seifer stood in one of his arrogant poses as he questioned, "Besides, you couldn't stop me from taking that kitten, even if you tried. No doubt you'd go cry to mommy if you so much as lost the damn thing."

Hayner's eyes widened just fraction before settling into a glare without the usual hint of malice.

Without any indication of a reply to Seifer's taunt, the younger blond just slowly turned around in the direction he entered the Sandlot and slowly started the walk back home.

"Well looks like lamer really is a chickenwuss after all! And here I thought I would actually have to waste some time kicking your ass out of here!"

The younger blond gave no indication that he even heard his rival as he concentrated on keeping the tears that formed in his eyes from falling.

Annoyed at Hayner's behavior, the older blond turned around to go inform his friends that the Sandlot was all clear for their upcoming activities. Though he couldn't help but wonder why the younger blond was so out of it. '_Not my problem if the lamer wants to act like a fucking emo pussy. But if he comes anywhere near me with that crying shit, I'll kick his fucking face in!'_

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Sitting in his apartment, Roxas was examining his last lightning storm photos. His heart clenched with the thought of what that night entailed and he quickly grabbed his cell phone dialing in a number he thought he wouldn't ever have to call.

"Hello?" The voice replied on the other line.

"Hey it's Roxas. I...... I was wondering if the offer you gave me was still available." The spiky haired youth nervously fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, taking notice of the complete silence on the other end of the line.

Biting his lip, Roxas almost thought of this call as a mistake until he heard a chuckle from the deep voice.

"Of course it's still open. Why?"

"Because..... I wanna take it." he breathed out the last of his sentence, hoping he was making the right choice.

"Alright. Someone will be over to pick you up in a few days so have everything packed inducing all your equipment. You will not have to worry about any further transportation or the cost of said transportation."

"O-okay......"

"Oh and Roxas?"

Roxas froze at the tone of voice the other was using. "Yes?"

"I can't wait to see you again. Welcome aboard." and the line went dead.

Slowly closing his cell phone, Roxas breathed a sigh of relief that the conversation went well.

Now to pack up his things and send in his one week notice at his job. And if he could manage, he would try to avoid his best friend as best he could. Sure it would hurt Hayner that he would up and leave without a goodbye, but he could easily get over that. Make his friendship with Pence and Ollete stronger. But he couldn't work up the courage to face him. To listen to him talk continuously about his parents and try to comfort him was all just to much. Roxas knew he would break down and tell Hayner what he did and that surely would ruin any bond they currently shared.

At least excepting this job offer he was presented with a few weeks ago caused him to move to another world. And Hayner and him could communicate through letters and e-mail. It was better then face to face in this situation.

'_but one day Hayner....... One day.....'_

"I'll tell you that it was an accident."

And with that said, Roxas grabbed the nearest box and started picking up random items. This was going to be a long day.

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**Hope you enjoy the second chapter!~**


	3. Tachycardia

**SO SORRY FOR THE HORRIBLE LATENESS! I could not for the life of me log into this account. And the fact I kept hurting myself unintentionally..... ffff- Anyway I'll be waiting to be skinned alive for the shortness of this. And I know I constantly switch point of views. I'm sorry for that.**

**And thank you for the past reviews. I 'm still newb to all of this and just want to thank you all who reviewed. Hugs to all of you! **

**' ' -thought**

" "**-speech**

**I own nothing and am still not making any money off of this..... I need to get me a job. **

**Credit for doctors first name and accent goes to shipet100 and for last name my friend mike.**

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The sky seemed to mock Hayner on his walk home. Calm and serene just described how the sun set each individual cloud aglow in the evening sky. Fabulous yellows and intoxicating pinks made the sky resemble a blushing virgin's cheeks for how pure it looked. The sun gave everything a bronze tint as if he were wearing glasses with special colored lenses.

It did nothing for the young blond's eyes though. Didn't ignite the usual spark of life that made him crave a struggle match or a sea-salt ice cream getaway at the clock tower. All he saw was faded mute colors, dim and gray along with a dieing sun where only the moon could smear it's ashes into the oncoming night sky.

It was an internal battle between Hayner's heart and his mind. His heart said he should cry, that he should mourn about his father and be thankful he still had his mother even though he had received no news from the doctors yet on her condition. His mind however said he should go back to the Sandlot and beat that ass-hat black and blue. The nerve of him to mention his mother.

'_Wait..... nobody knows except me.' _An internal light bulb had just clicked on in Hayner's pretty little head.

"I've gotta find my friends!" And with that he dashed what little way he had left on his walk home and reached his front door of his house in a matter of five minutes. It was located at the back of one of the few cul-de-sacs in Twilight Town. And one of the only cul-de-sacs, next to a few streets here and there, that didn't have any type of street light for the dark nights. Figures right? See some street lights were going to be installed, but the workers began to get greedy. Needless to say they were fired and it was tough to higher replacements who didn't get lost so easy and had a handle on directions.

Keeping hold of the kitten who woke up from a light doze from it's earlier activities, Hayner swiftly took his house keys out of his right back pocket and unlocked the mahogany door that led into the living room. Stale air greeted him when he walked through the door. The kitten jumped out of his arms and ran off to find a more comfortable sleeping place, the earthy toned throw rug next to the fire place that's never lit anymore, its current bed. Closing the door behind him, Hayner tossed his keys onto the coffee table between the loveseat and the couch. Walking to his right, into the kitchen, he checked the counter answering machine to see if there had been any calls while he was out. No such luck. The big red zero seemed to be permanent now these days.

Looking to the clock on the far left wall, the young blond read it to be six seventeen. He had been gone longer then he thought he would be. Grabbing the portable house phone off the counter, the young blond put in the number to his best friend's cell. Of all the friends he wanted to speak to or see right now it would definitely be Roxas. After four rings, the voice mail picked up.

"Hey Rox, it's me Hayner. I'm sorry I hadn't really spoken to you at all this past week, just something totally horrible happened. I was wondering if you wanted to meet up with me at the Usual spot later so I can tell you about it. Call me back when you get this,.... Bye." Pressing the off button, he sighed and thought about calling Pence or Ollete. But knowing there schedule's they'd both be in the middle of dinner right now and interrupting them wouldn't be the smartest thing to do. He learned that the hard way and is still trying to block out that event.

Suddenly the phone in his hand started ringing bringing Hayner out of his thoughts. Without looking at the caller ID he quickly answered it hoping it was from his best friend, but instead got someone he had been expecting to hear from for a week.

"Hello. This is Doctor Halie Sanders. I have been in charge of the care your mother has received for the past week. Your mother has just woken up from her mild coma and requested your presence immediately after a few minutes of regaining consciousness. Do you think you are able to show up tonight?"

His heart raced in his chest as he thought over the words the doctor had told him. 'W_oken up. She's awake. SHE'S AWAKE!?_'

"Yes! I-I'll be over right away!"

Hanging up the phone and tossing it on the table, the young blond dashed into the living room and made a bee line for the front door. Grabbing his keys, he didn't even stop to think about grabbing his skateboard. When Hayner locked the door he managed to get his key jammed in the lock for a few seconds. "GOD DAMMIT!"

After a few wiggles and a desperate attempt at unlocking and locking the door again, his key slid out of the lock as if it was never stuck in the first place. Heaving a dramatic sigh, the young blond ran with all his might down to the Twilight Hospital located at the other side of the town.

He apprehensively approached the nearly mummified figure, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him. Was this person really his mother? The strong woman that had been a constant source of love, support and strength all his life really be lying here on the hospital bed, covered in bandages and hooked up to machines? And unconscious?! It pained Hayner to see his mother like this, it really did.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Fifteen long minutes went by, but to him it felt much longer.

'_I thought they said she was awake? Well no matter...... Mom, I can at least see you.' _

The respirators were constantly working their magic forcing air into the woman's uncooperative lungs. In. Out. In. Out. Continuous and reassuring. Spotting a chair in the corner and dragging it to the side of the bed, Hayner waited with baited breath for any sign from his mother of consciousness or any doctor who dared to enter the room.

Unfortunately it was the latter that broke his mindless concentration on willing his mother awake and swiftly turned to face the intruder.

A woman who seemed to be in her early thirties with black hair pulled into a tight bun swiftly motioned for him to step out of the room with her. He did as he was silently asked and was now standing in front of the woman, nerves made their presence known. A clipboard appeared mysteriously in the woman's hand and as soon as he was going to voice his apparent confusion and frustration she began to speak.

With a twang of an accent he couldn't place(later he found out it was Chinese from the Land of the Dragons), the words and their meaning she told him hit him full force with their meaning.

"Hello, Hayner. I am Dr. Sanders. Your mother proceeded to have hemorrhaging in the brain while you were on your way here. As you have already seen she is now no longer responsive and it is predicted that with the severity of her injuries, both old and new, she will have a 23 percent chance of surviving."

All the breath Hayner had swiftly left him and he leaned against the wall as his knees started to evolve into jelly. Dr. Sanders continued on without noticing or did not let the sight of his actions affect what she was about to say next.

"With the way your mother is progressing if she survives this you will have to care for her as she will be unable to function properly both mentally and physically. It would put a strain on you and the rest of your family members." She was interrupted by a young man shoving a piece of paper in her face. She quickly read over it's contents and took a deep breath. Hayner guessed it wouldn't be good news.

" It has just been found out that your mother is already to far gone. You will have to make the decision to pull the plug early or allow her to die when the body fails. You have two hours."

Hayner slide to the floor at an awkward angle. "I'm sorry." And with that, Dr. Sanders left to go about her business and left through a pair of automatic doors for medical personnel only.

Everything in the young blonds world came crashing down. Tears streamed down his eyes in never ending rivers but not a sob escaped him. Thoughts were crashing in his head like a tsunami and it took all the he had to stand up and stand in the doorway of his mother's hospital room. Minutes passed until he remembered to breath and he turned around in search of Dr. Sanders. It was obvious what needed to be done, and be done quickly. He approached the front desk and spoke in a broken voice to see Dr. Sanders. Minutes went by until he noticed her approach and said his answer before she had a chance to speak.

"Do it. Pull the plug."

With a nod, Dr. Sanders turned to leave but stopped suddenly asking if he would want to be present during the procedure. Hayner shook his head no and left at the same time the doctor did. He walked past the main front doors of the hospital in a numb fog. He realized as he made his way through the town that in between the twenty minutes he had been walking, he became an orphan. Of course being an orphan didn't matter because he was legally old enough to be on his own, but the mental impact of the two people who raised him and loved him being dead in a weeks time was enough to put anyone in the state of mind he was in.

Hayner didn't even notice when he bumped into something and that something threw unending insults left and right about his intelligence and whatever else at him. Glancing up with his watery red eyes he met those of electric blue and already knew who it was. The cold intense glare in those blue eyes turned to concern and weariness and the state he was in. It was obvious something was wrong and the brain behind those eyes kicked in to high gear.

The question the bully was about to throw in the young blond's direction died in his throat when a pathetic quiet murmur of sorry was uttered and Hayner walked away with his best impression of a zombie Seifer had ever seen. Seifer debated on whether to follow and beat the information out of the chickenwuss but caught movement in the corner of his eye.

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Roxas was currently dragging a box full of junk into an alley he was sure no one would look into. Confident he had done a good job in hiding his old stuff, and therefore effectively throwing it away, he turned around to leave the alleyway...... Only to come face to face with a quizzical and pissed off looking blond bully by the name of Seifer.

_'Shit'_

"What are you doing?"

"Uhm,...... throwing some old stuff out. Why? Didn't know you needed some donations."

That earned him a good punch in the stomach from the older blond, one that he accepted without complaint because of his guilt over what he had done, is currently doing, and what he will do in the very near future.

"What did you do to chickenwuss? Answer me truthfully or else you'll get that nose job you severely need."

Roxas's heart nearly jumped out of his throat. Had Seifer seen what happened that night? No.... He couldn't have...

"What makes you think I did something huh?! He's always pissed about something you did!"

Seifer was obviously unconvinced with spiky's answer because another blow landed upon the smaller's frame.

"I didn't do anything!" Another blow, right in the same spot as the previous two was given to Roxas.

Roxas dry heaved and a little spittle fell over his chin. He looked into Seifer's eyes but was unable to hold the the contact of the intense glare and swiftly looked away. The blond bully didn't miss the immense guilt that plagued those eyes that were a deeper ocean blue than his own, so he knew Roxas had something to do with what put the chickenwuss in the state he was in. It didn't bode well for future struggle fights and that just would not do. It got boring always fighting with Rai and Fuu never wanted to participate. Lamer was always unpredictable and that brought life back into the sport.

After a few minutes he allowed Roxas to scamper away and lick his wounds. After checking spiky lamer number two was out of sight he made his way to the box that was purposely hidden and made to be overlooked by people who roamed the streets. Carefully and curiously he opened the flaps, the sound of cardboard sifting and moving filling the otherwise silence of the alleyway.

"Well well. What do we have here?" Seifer sifted through the contents of the box and pulled out a rather peculiar item of clothing. It was camouflaged and seemed to have been worn only a few times and seemed rather familiar.

He suddenly remembered that that was a matching vest to chickenwuss's pants and it was burrowed by his lamer friend. He knew because they always switched clothing. After a few more minutes of looking through the box Seifer had confirmed these were all of Hayner's clothes Roxas had borrowed but never returned. Something fishy was going on here and he'd be damned if he didn't figure it out and fast.

The blond bully picked up the box full of clothing and started the short walk back to his house.

He then made a promise to himself and swore the next time he saw Roxas he would not let the little shit get away so easily. He would get to the bottom of this. All in due time. He will find out what's wrong with his chickenwuss, yes _his_ chickenwuss. And when he did, all hell will break loose on whoever caused this, though the guess as to whom wasn't very hard to figure out.

_'I suppose I better think of a way to return these to chickenwuss.......hm.'_

He thought on his current predicament as he neared his house by the sandlot and noticed the moon shining high in the sky.

It was awing how just a few moments ago the moon was on the horizon but now flaunting it's white glow in the dark sky for all to gaze upon it. All it took was a few moments of time for everything to be changed. He hoped tomorrow would bring answers.

* * *

**Yeah......... uhm. Hoped that brought you some type of closure from the horrible delay I caused. 4th will hopefully be up soon since I can now login! So...woohoo!**


	4. Electrocardiography

**Chapter Four is finally here. Hope it's okay and sorry for the obvious changes in the writing style. I own nothing except Todd.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Checking to make sure the phone battery was all the way in the green the young spikey blond snapped it shut and stuffed it into one of his pockets. Looking back into the apartment and it's emptiness a shiver made it's way up his spine as he grabbed the last of his luggage and hauled it outside and dropped it onto the copper stone streets of twilight town. The sun was starting to rise and Roxas could feel that today would be daunting. He wasn't looking forward to seeing anyone he knew and answering their questions as too why he was standing outside his apartment building.

Standing was getting old so he decided sitting on the ground would be a better option while waiting for who know's what driven by whatever stranger. Basically his ride.

He thought back to what happened the previous night. That was a close call. Thank god Seifer hated Hayner so he wouldn't go anywhere near his bestie to tell him what he did last night.

All he had to do was just stay in the clear and hope everything goes well. Roxas pulled out his cellphone and checked the time. Fifteen minutes had passed and eight missed calls. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Hayner spent the better part of two hours laying in his bed the next morning. The kitten was no where to be found. Probably running somewhere downstairs throwing up a hairball or pissing on the carpet. It would figure as much with the way Hayner's luck had been. Anymore of this lady life kicking him in the balls and he'll surely bust a nut in a matter of nanoseconds.

Not only had Roxas been ignoring his calls, one of his crazy relatives would not stop spamming the main phone line for hours on end leaving him to practically unplug the phone to just get a few minutes peace before his cell phone buzzed with convulsions with the caller ID flashing: D-FAG. D-fag. Douchefag.

In short his fucking crazy ass cousin. Like seriously crazy. Hayner only met the older(by two years) boy a few years ago when he was 16.

His family was hosting a new years party and everyone was invited. Friends, family and neighbors. Well his aunt and uncle on his mothers' side came into town to see her and stayed for two weeks. His aunt had two children. One was eighteen and the other was fifteen. Instead of the fifteen year old(Louis) kid sharing a room with Hayner, he got Todd as his temporary roommate. He was looking forward to Louis's company because they had a lot in common with books, games, music and hell even Struggle was both their favorite sport. But because both their mothers wanted Louis to have his own space, Todd made himself as comfortable as humanly possibly when staying over at his cousin's house. Maybe a little too comfortable. Todd was fucking batshit insane. To make a long story short, Todd introduced Hayner to his first alcoholic beverage as well as some other 'first's. Things didn't go well after that and Hayner vowed to never communicate with him ever again after they left. He stuck pretty well to that vow.

But now him being alone in his parents house, correction, HIS house, D-Fag was spamming the shit out of his phone and Hayner did not want to deal with any of that shit.

So in short Hayner took his cell off of the night table near the bed and turned it off. Roxas wouldn't return his calls anyway and if there was an emergency Pence and Ollette would know how to reach him.

A few minutes went by as Hayner drifted to sleep. It wouldn't last for long, that peaceful feeling of forgetting everything in blackness before nightmares hit.

Not ten minutes later incessant pounding on the front door quickly woke him up. He dizzily stumbled out of bed nearly tripping on his receding oversized pajama pants as he trotted down the stairs with only one goal in mind: Stopping the knocking.

The minute he opened the door, bright hot sunlight instantly burned into his retinas and he half haphazardly tried to shield his eyes. All he could take in was a pearly white smile of the disturber of his peace.

"Hey Squirt. Missed me?"

Hayner's heart nearly exploded at the sound of that voice.

* * *

It was fairly late in the morning now with the clock showing 10:43AM. A little too late for Roxas's tastes. He'd been sitting on that curb for four in a half hours now and his ride was a no show.

He was beyond pissed as he scrolled in the phone book of his cell looking for that one particular number, selecting it and hitting the call button.

Four rings passed and no answer.

"...Hmph."

A few more fluttered by until the answering machine picked it up and he debated on leaving a message.

He decided against it as he noticed two familiar figures in the distance making their way slowly to him.

Pence and Ollette. Shit.

He nervously started to look around him and saw that having all his bags out here surrounding him was a huge giveaway as to why his was in the middle of the street practically. He would be in such deep shit if they noticed him. Thankfully their thoughts were filled with each others faces with how much they were staring at each other.

Out of no where the sound of squealing tires and loud obnoxious music filled the air... and it was getting louder. Roxas nearly saw his entire life flash in front of his eyes as a sleek black Ferrari screamed to a stop not 5 inches from his face. Staring at the bumper of this thing Roxas failed to realize someone was yelling at him.

"Hey little dude! I could have flattened you! What are you doing in the middle of the street anyhow?"

With his heart beating 1,000 miles per minute, Roxas shakily got to his feet and stared at the man getting out of the monster of a car, swallowing out of fear.

The driver looked to be an older man with some gray in his ebony black hair tied up into a pony tail. One eye patch and a few scars told Roxas that this guy had been through some serious stuff in his life.

"Well any way, The name's Xibar but you can call me Xiggy. I'm supposed to be giving a ride to some little dude right around here but judging from your luggage I'm guessing that must be you. Sorry for almost squashing you under my tires a few minutes ago." As he said this, Xigbar grabbed some of the bags and tossed them in the back seat since there was no roof.

Roxas couldn't help but just stare. Not only was he going into slight shock but he saw pence and ollette were nearly on top of them. Jumping into action he grabbed the last two bags that the older man hadn't grabbed and just threw them into the back with the rest and jumped into the front passenger seat.

"Whoa little man. Why in such a hurry huh?"

Roxas just sunk down into his seat refusing to say anything. He looked like a sulking child in the older man's eyes and he began to chuckle. He shrugged and got into the drivers seat, closing the door and turning the ignition key simultaneously. "Hold on tight little dude." That was all that was said before the car lurched into reverse like a bat out of hell. Roxas nearly had his head slammed against the dash board before Xibar rotated the steering wheel, completely turning them around in the most insane U-turn he had ever been in and raced down the street.

All that Pence and Ollette saw was a crazy black car driving backwards nearly killing some old lady juggling an arm full of grocery bags and they both thought nothing of it. Well other then the fact the lady throwing oranges in the cars direction somewhat funny.

* * *

"You can't just come in here like you own the damn place!"

"Oh relax squirt. I'm just here to keep you company in your time of need."

Hayner stood at the foot of the couch that his cousin currently occupied crossing his arms and giving the most menacing look he could muster.

"that's just it. I don't need you here. Now get out."

"Not even a thank you for my thoughtfulness? My... you've grown up to be ungrateful. Here I am, weary from traveling so far and you want me gone already. Not even an offer to stay the night for dinner and rest."

Hayner's eyes narrowed at the sarcastic tone in his cousin's voice. With a huff and a turn he walked into his kitchen a few paces away. A few minutes later he reentered the living room and tossed half of a cheese sandwich at the older man.

"There's your food now get out."

"Aw how nice. Shame you aren't wearing an apron, then I would have gotten the luxury of having a nice dessert after this somewhat simple dinner you've given me."

All Hayner could do was sneer as Todd ate.

Apparently what he learned earlier was that his aunt had heard the news of both his parents' passing and thought that he needed some company. Of all the people that wanted to go, his creepy as fuck cousin Todd decided to do the honors and 'grace' his favorite little 'squirt' with his company. The last thing Hayner ever wanted to see was that bastard. He was different from what he remembered a few years ago. He let his hair grow out. That was the most noticeable feature. As far as Hayner remembered it never was passed his shoulders, but it still was as curly as ever. Golden brown ringlets bunched up in the pony tail that fell over his right shoulder. You could tell the freak used salon quality shampoo and conditioner. Probably the fruity kind that smelled like berries and cream too.

His eyes were still the same hazel and his stupid tan was still stupid. The fact he was wearing a suit creeped him out though. He was expecting something more along the lines of a jail orange jumpsuit.

Todd stretched and yawned and Hayner had the most horrible urge to slam his foot into the freaks face.

"I'm ready for a nice nap. So... sleeping arrangements?" As he stood from the couch to tower over Hayner, the younger male pointed to the couch todd occupied moments before.

"You were laying on it."

"My my you can't be serious. Leaving me on the couch? No. I'll take the spare bedroom."

Todd walked to the stair case and looked back to his younger cousin. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I stayed with you in your room though. I can only imagine how lonely you must feel and how scared you must be when you wake up from your nightmares for someone to hold you only to realize momma and papa aren't around anymore to do the job. But... that's why I'm here."

His crooked grin sent shivers down Hayner's spine and the minute Todd disappeared at the top of the stairs, he immediately went to the door and grabbed his house keys and left. No way would he stay in that house the majority of the time with that fucking abortion survivor.

Fifteen minutes went by and Hayner found himself wandering down the streets with no destination and bare feet. He didn't mind the fact his pajama bottoms were getting dusty, just the fact that it was early afternoon and he didn't have the brains enough to at least grab some type of footwear. But the fact IT was in his house should be reason enough to burn his feet on the hot stone until he decided to face the music and go home. Though maybe grabbing a shirt might have helped a little bit. Probably more so then shoes.

He stuck to the shade as much as possible which wasn't that hard since the buildings gave off shadows like rabbits birth babies. Thankfully not many people are up and about at this time since he discovered himself to be near market street. He wasn't generally a shy person, but when only wearing a set of moogle boxers that were peaking over the hem of his receding struggle bat pj bottoms...in public...in broad daylight... yeah.

He stopped to readjust himself and-

"_VRRROOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!" _

He had never been so thankful to have quick reflexes and a strong control over his bladder. He hugged that damn wall like a cat, shaking and sweating with adrenaline. He almost got killed by a fucking car. A fucking speeding Ferrari! What the fuck would a goddamn car like that be doing here!

Wait...

He looked in the direction the car headed in and saw that unmistakable shade and spike of a certain person he knew all to well sitting in the passenger's seat. Luckily the fucking driver stopped a few feet away, waiting for a few families to cross the street. Why not just run them over too? Rack up more points with the massive amounts of children.

Without a second thought he unhinged himself from the sweltering wall and sprinted towards the car. The closer he got the more he knew it was Roxas.

"ROXAS!"

The head spun around and peered towards the quickly approaching Hayner.

Roxas's eyes popped open wide and Hayner swore he heard Roxas say 'shit'.

Roxas wanted to die on the spot. He looked to the street and the mob of people were almost gone meaning it would be clear for Xibar to use his lead foot once more. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK!"

Xibar raised an eyebrow at the odd behavior but didn't pay any more attention to it when he saw the street was now clear.

Almost there. Hayner was so close, he managed to touch the passenger side's back car door and see all the luggage piled up on the seats. He furrowed his eyebrows and his anger was rising with every passing second. "Roxas!"

Roxas turned to his right and saw Hayner right next to him, sweating and panting along with the lack of clothing, and lurched towards Xigbar.

"What the HELL Is going on!" Hayner screamed.

All he saw was Roxas shaking his head with a lost look on his face. The next thing Hayner saw was a fist coming straight for his face, and when it connected the sound of Roxas's shouting, "DRIVE GODDAMNITT! DRIVE!" flooded his ears along with the sound of the engine revving up and the exhaust fumes filling his lungs. He stumbled back, lucky enough to not have his foot run over, coughing and spluttering as his nose bled profusely.

"FUCK YOU ROXAS! FUCK YOU!"

* * *

Hayner couldn't even feel his feet anymore as his nose took over as being the most painful part on his body. Blood was running down his bare chest and he struggled with just trying to walk straight. Pretty hard with his eyes screwed shut.

He had no idea where his was going. And he may or may not have a broken nose. Just wonderful. How much worse can this day get?

He sniffed slightly out of reaction to the blood dribbling down his throat and winced when his face connected to a hard surface.

Laughter was suddenly heard as he squinted his eyes open to see he walked face first into the struggle board.

"Nice going chickenwuss. Good to know you not only blind other people but yourself as well. Put some damn clothes on."

Seifer. Just the person who always shows up at the worst times. Hayner turned around, wincing as his nose gushed out a new wave of blood and Seifer's face was priceless.

"Please don't tell me you just broke your damn nose on the struggle board like the loser you are."

"No asshat... wait... Broken? It's officially broken?"

Hayner internally panicked and Seifer knew he was on borderline on freaking out.

"I'm not sure. Hold still and let me check."

Hayner watched as Seifer's hand came towards his face and he couldn't help but back up a little.

"Hayner. Come here."

Hayner shook his head and backed up further out of the taller blonde's reach.

"Hayner." Seifer said again, both his hands now reaching out for his face.

Hayner shook his head once more and backed up again but only to find himself up against the struggle board. Seifer was right on top of him as both his hands grabbed his face. He tried to struggle but Seifer's calm voice assured him that he wouldn't hurt the smaller blonde. "Stand still. I'm not going to hurt you."

Hayner felt his head being tipped back and blinked continuously trying to think of something to distract himself from the fact that Seifer's hands were touching his face and that he was so close and hard and how soft his clothing was on his bare chest and-

"OW!" Hayner threw back his head and felt it connect to the board he hit just a few moments earlier.

"The fuck did you do that for!" He covered his nose and stared accusingly at Seifer.

"It was out of alignment so I put it back in." He smirked his usual cocky grin and fished something out of one of his pockets as he stared at the younger blonde.

Hayner's eyes never left Seifer's hand as it went about searching its person until it was holding some type of white cloth and holding it out to him.

"Here. I don't want you bleeding all over the ground. You'll get my sandlot dirty, lamer."

Hayner sneered as best he could and grabbed the white cloth and put it up to his nose.

"Mind telling me exactly Why you're out here mostly naked with a bloody broken nose?"

"None of your business." He pressed the cloth to hard against his nose and failed to stifle his whimper of pain.

"Tell you what chickenwuss, I have some painkillers back at my house. You tell me what happened and I'll give you some. Unless you want to run home to mommy and have her take care of it."

Hayner felt a small pang in his heart. With everything that had been happening today it slipped his mind that... well you know. He could feel his eyes start to tear up and he looked to Seifer.

It was a tough choice. Go with his enemy and tell him his bestie broke his nose for some god forsaken painkillers, or go home and be with that Thing that was probably smelling his pillow right about now.

"Fine."

Seifer crossed his arms and waited for Hayner's story.

"Roxas punched me in the face when I saw him in a car earlier. Happy?"

Hayner missed the way Seifer's eyes had narrowed when he mention the spiked youth. "There's more you're not telling me lamer. Just know that soon I will know the whole story. Follow me."

And so Hayner followed Seifer to his house. It was just a short five minute walk but it felt longer then that. As soon as they both reached the front door, Seifer stepped aside and allowed Hayner to enter first.

Hesitantly he walked through the front door into a moderately decorated living room.

There was an earthy carpet with dark gray wallpaper lining the walls. The furniture was a rich chocolate brown and leathery looking. As he walked into the room Seifer shut and locked the door behind him and when into a hallway and returns a few moments later with a medical kit, painkillers, glass of water and a shirt of some kind.

"Here. These should stop the pain but will make you sleep so here's a night shirt." He tossed the navy blue shirt at Hayner as he set the med kit down next to himself on the coffee table.

The younger blonde just stood there rooted to his spot on the carpet holding the night shirt and three pills.

"Sit dumbass or you can fix your own nose!"

Hayner reluctantly did as he was told. He tossed the pills in his mouth and chugged the water causing himself to choke slightly and watched as Seifer pulled out some gauze from the med kit.

"Now this time stay still, or I'll make it worse for you lamer."

Hayner stayed as still as he could on the couch as Seifer slowly and carefully packed his nostrils with gauze to stop the bleeding. As this happened he wrinkled the shirt he was given between his hands and couldn't help but think of how soft Seifer's hands were since they were once again touching his face.

A few minutes went by and Hayner started to feel a little woozy and tired all of a sudden and grabbed one of Seifer's wrists as he tried to keep his eye's open.

"Ah the pills are working then. Just lay down chickenwuss."

Hayner tried to resist the pressure from the older man's hand on his chest pushing him down onto the couch, head being propped up on a couch pillow but failed miserably as the medication took it's affect.

The last thing he could feel was Seifer's hands on his shoulders and the softness of the couch before he fell completely unconscious.

* * *

**Woot. Now I've actually had what Seifer did to Hayner as he relined Hayner's little nose done to me except it was with contacts. Wasn't fun.**

**Hope you enjoyed it. Eeekness. **


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